The second day of the ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee meeting, led by CMS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, on March 5-6 focused largely on proposed ICD-10-CM code changes for mental health and musculoskeletal conditions.

A recent study showed that CMS’ Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) may be causing an increase in the 30-day mortality rate for certain conditions. Now, a second study published by Health Affairs claims that the reductions in readmission rates are themselves “illusory or overstated.”

CMS recently released Transmittal 4246 , revising language in Chapter 13 of the Medicare Claims Processing Manual regarding the billing of E/M codes on the same date of service as superficial radiation treatment delivery.

CMS recently released an MLN Matters article to inform hospitals and Medicare Administrator Contractors of new system changes, effective July 1, that ensure organ acquisition costs are not included in the IPPS payment calculation for claims that group to a non-transplant MS-DRG.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently issued court-ordered briefs in which each defends its respective position in a federal 340B payment lawsuit. The case was brought against HHS by multiple hospital groups to reverse Medicare payment cuts for drugs purchased through CMS' 340B drug discount program.

Using financial penalties to reduce hospital readmissions has been linked to a significant rise in post-discharge mortality for patients with heart failure and pneumonia, according to a recent study by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Average hospital costs and mortality rates are significantly higher for patients diagnosed with sepsis after hospital admission when compared with patients diagnosed prior to admission, according to a retrospective analysis recently published in Critical Care Medicine.

Findings show that pathologist involvement in the review and verification of CPT codes may reduce the need for code modifications at the time of sign-out auditing, according to the recent study published in the Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has been conducting a series of studies about adverse events in various healthcare settings since 2008 and will be publishing more of its corresponding reports throughout 2019, the OIG said in a statement.

A preliminary study found that a new point-of-care troponin assay safely ruled out acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in a large proportion of patients with symptoms suggestive of acute coronary syndrome, according to the report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Findings from a retrospective cohort study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine suggest that, on average, EDs may report higher-level E/M services for incarcerated individuals when compared to the general population.

CMS and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) claims to have identified unspecified upcoding in hospital billing—either accidentally or intentionally reporting higher severity codes than supported by documentation to increase payment. Because of this, these entities will conduct a two-part study to assess inpatient hospital billing, according to the OIG.

Among patients ages 65 years and older, the rate of opioid-related hospitalizations increased more than the rate of nonopioid-related hospitalizations between 2010 and 2015, according to the recent statistical brief published by the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project.

Findings from an Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit show that Novitas Solutions Inc. overpaid hospitals for intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) services provided to nearly all sampled Medicare beneficiaries over a 30-month period, resulting in overpayments of at least $7.2 million.

A new risk model provides a simple way to determine whether acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients are at a high risk for hospital readmissions, says a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

CMS recently released both the calendar year (CY) 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and OPPS final rules last week, revising the payment structure for E/M office visits and expanding payment reductions for drugs purchased under the 340B discount pricing program by nonexcepted, off-campus, provider-based departments.